(Image credit: ACT UP)
ACT UP gets naked to protest Gilead
Activists from HIV activist group ACT UP stripped naked in the London offices of Gilead Sciences, the producers of PrEP drug Truvada, to protest the high cost of the drug. Truvada was recently rejected for coverage by the British health service, partly due to high costs. The activists wrote “Pharma greed kills” on their naked bodies.
Simpsons’ Smithers comes out as gay
After 27 years of hints and intimations, Simpsons character Smithers came out as gay on Sunday’s episode. Writer Rob LaZebnik says he was inspired to write the episode by his gay son.
Where HIV is a crime
In Michigan, a state law makes it a felony to engage in sexual penetration without disclosing HIV status. The law is being abused, however, reports sociologist Trevor Hoppe, to out an honest gay man, and to jail a stripper who allegedly allowed a man to penetrate her with his nose.
Read more at The Huffington Post.
The ambassador and the cardinal
The New York Times tells the story of Wally Brewster, a gay Chicago businessman who ruffled Catholic feathers when he was made ambassador to the Dominican Republic. When he arrived, Brewster was told he would have to keep his husband invisible. His refusal led to the country’s cardinal calling Brewster a “faggot,” even as the Vatican’s own ambassador was recalled for child abuse.
LA father shot his son for being gay
A man in Los Angeles who shot his son for being gay will face a judge next week. Shehada Issa, 69, had allegedly threatened his son Amir in the past because of his sexuality. Questions about the killing of Shehada’s wife, and the troubled relationship between father and son, remain.
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